Johnson County company flooded with calls after releasing door armor for schools

Dave D'Marko

3 weeks ago

STILLWELL, Kan. -- The Parkland school shooting that killed 17 students was the final straw for staff at Fire Door Solutions in Stillwell, Kansas.

"It seems like each one, especially where they go floor to floor or classroom to classroom, I go, 'We could have saved their lives.' Yeah, that wears on us," CEO Jeff Perry said.

The company had been working on "Fire Door Armor," a device that can go on the back of a school or business door for the past year.

"We are passionate about getting this in the marketplace to protect our own kids and others," Fire Door Solutions President Dave Geenens said.

They're now rushing production, hoping to prevent another tragedy.

Fire Door Armor

"It's the first intelligent breachable barricade system in the market," Geenens said.

As soon as the lever is flipped to secure the door to up to 5,000 pounds of pressure, a wifi signal sends an alert to the rest of the school of the danger.

"Literally within seconds an entire school or campus can be locked down to protect kids and teachers from an active shooter threat,'" Geenens said.

The company will give schools and first responders a way to get past the barricade. In the past, fire code barriers have kept schools from installing products on doors.

"Given our fire door compliance history, we understand the importance of putting a device on a door such as a classroom and how it can be a hazard," Perry said.

Fire Door Armor says it has received more than 200 calls from interested school districts since announcing the product earlier this week. They're already working with schools' parent-teacher organizations on the $50 monthly cost to adopt the door.

"We realize it`s going to take time for budget money, for grant money," Fire Door Armor President Donnie Thomas said. "Parents and community members are willing to fund this now."